I may have royally ****ed up on my EE

[Stian]

Ok, so for my EE I wanted to do something that actually interested me and wasn't insanely boring so I chose genetics. I ended up working with a genetics lab at the University of Colorado using CRISPR to remove genes from a type of fish called a lamprey. So, it turns out that I broke every regulation about animal experimentation, but my supervisor and coordinator thought that it would be ok because I was doing it in a lab with government approval under supervision from actual researchers. They sent an email to the IB and the response that came back neither approved or rejected my EE. My supervisor suggested that I might tell the IB that it is a theoretical experiment, but theoretical experiments seldom get higher than a D without lots of raw data from multiple sources, but I can't get raw data from multiple sources, because the research that I did with this lab was cutting edge and hadn't been done before. I guess I am just wondering how I should dig myself out of this hole. Thanks for the help.

 

[prerna]

I guess it is up to you in the end. But, from my point of view, the work that you did was like NEW and revolutionary and so it should be shared! although, it seems a bit much for a 4000-word essay... something more like a PhD thesis. Since the response from the IB didn't outright disqualify your EE, I would go ahead with it, especially since your supervisor and coordinator think it is okay. If you are really concerned about say not getting the diploma because of possibly failing your EE (due to animal ethics concerns), I would suggest telling IB that it is theoretical and being content with a D. Hope I helped a bit.

[kw0573]

The only regulations on Biology EE animal experimentation is that you cannot inflict pain on the organisms, and you cannot attempt to work with or reproduce a pathogen. If your experiment is in vitro then it should be fine.